1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to improvements in golf putters and, more particularly, such improvements which enhance putting effectiveness and facilitates custom putter fabrication.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There are numerous devices in the prior art which are intended to facilitate alignment of the golfer's line of sight in a vertical plane which includes the golf ball and the cup or hole. Examples of such devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,548,504 (Sykes), 4,167,268 (Lorang), 3,698,093 (Marshall), 4,136,877 (Antonious), 4,231,576 (Perkins) and 3,880,430 (McCabe). All of these devices require that two vertically-spaced members be aligned or centered in the golfer's line of sight so that the golfer's head will then be properly positioned over the club head and ball. In order to effectively use such devices, the golfer must have nearly perfect vision. In other words, if the golfer has less than twenty-twenty vision, there is a range of positions for the golfer's head wherein the two spaced members will appear to be aligned, such range becoming larger as the golfer's vision becomes worse. This permits slight mis-alignment of the golfer's head and improper alignment between the club head and the ball. Apart from the foregoing, the prior art alignment devices take considerable time to use as the golfer moves his or her head back and forth in an effort to center or align the alignment members.
Many prior art putters suffer from the problem of frictional drag forces exerted by grass along the bottom surface of the putter during a putting stroke. Such drag results in turning of the club head and/or erratic forward motion of the club head. In either case, frictional drag causes the ball to be stroked inaccurately.
Proper putter selection is crucial to a golfer's game, the weight of the club head and the angle of the club's shaft relative to the club head are two important parameters which can vary greatly from golfer to golfer. The proper angle of the shaft for a particular golfer depends very much on the golfer's stance, including the position of the golfer's head during the putting stroke. In particular, it is important that the shaft be at a comfortable angle when the golfer's head is positioned over the club with his or her line of sight in the vertical plane that includes the ball, the cup and the desired impact point on the club head. This position of the golfer's line of sight is most often not taken into consideration when custom putters are designed.